Emily Maitlis
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Emily Maitlis (born 6 September 1970) is a Canadian-born British journalist and former newsreader for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
who was the lead anchor of the
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
news and current affairs programme ''
Newsnight ''Newsnight'' is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 10:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also avail ...
'' until the end of 2021. She has since been a presenter of the daily podcast '' The News Agents'' on LBC Radio. In November 2019, she carried out an hour-long interview with Prince Andrew, Duke of York for the BBC, in which she probed the prince's relationship with American convicted sex offender
Jeffrey Epstein Jeffrey Edward Epstein ( , ; January 20, 1953August 10, 2019) was an American financier and child sex offender. Born and raised in New York City, Epstein began his professional career as a teacher at the Dalton School, despite lacking a col ...
.


Early life and education

Maitlis was born in
Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...
, Canada, to British Jewish parents; her paternal grandmother was a Jewish refugee who fled
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. She is the daughter of Peter Maitlis, Emeritus Professor of
Inorganic Chemistry Inorganic chemistry deals with chemical synthesis, synthesis and behavior of inorganic compound, inorganic and organometallic chemistry, organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subj ...
at the
University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...
, and Marion Basco, a psychotherapist from Cambridge. Her mother studied French and Spanish at
St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a ...
. In September 1958, her mother began teaching French at Cambridgeshire High School for Girls (since 1974
Long Road Sixth Form College Long Road Sixth Form College (LRSFC) is a state co-educational sixth form college in Cambridge, England. It is on Long Road, from which it draws its name, and is next to the Cambridge Bio-Medical Campus which encompasses Addenbrooke's Hospital ...
). Maitlis was brought up on Park Avenue in
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
,
South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...
, with her two older sisters, Nicky and Sally. She was educated at King Edward VII School, Sheffield, and read English at
Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...
. At university, she took part in The Marlowe Society, in productions such as '' Doctor Faustus'', directed by
Clare Venables Clare Rosamund Venables (17 March 1943 – 17 October 2003) was an English theatre director. She was artistic director of regional theatres in Lincoln, Stratford East (London), and Sheffield; she became Director of Education at the Royal Shakespe ...
, with Stuart Crossman, and Dominic Rowan. She gained a 2.1 degree.


Career


Early radio and television work in the Far East

Maitlis initially wanted to work as a
theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...
, prompted by her love for drama, but instead went into radio broadcasting. Before working in the news, she was a documentary maker in
Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
and China. She worked for the
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
network and was based in Hong Kong. She spent six years in Hong Kong with
TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB; zh, t=電視廣播有限公司) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong. The company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Canton ...
News and
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
Asia, initially as a business reporter creating documentaries and then as a presenter in Hong Kong covering the collapse of the
tiger economies A tiger economy is the economy of a country which undergoes rapid economic growth, usually accompanied by an increase in the standard of living. The term was originally used for the Four Asian Tigers (South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore) ...
in 1997. She also covered the
transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong The handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China was at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony, which began in 1841. Hong Kong was established as a specia ...
with Jon Snow for
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
. She moved to
Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...
in the UK as a business correspondent and to '' BBC London News'' when the programme was relaunched in 2001.


BBC career

During 2005, Maitlis appeared as the question-master on the game show ''The National Lottery: Come And Have A Go''. She was a regular presenter on the BBC News Channel for a decade between 2006 and 2016, alongside Ben Brown and Jon Sopel. She also presented ''
BBC Breakfast ''BBC Breakfast'' is a British television breakfast news programme, produced by BBC News and broadcast on BBC One every morning from 6:00am. It is also broadcast on the UK feed of BBC News channel on weekends. The simulcast is presented live, ...
'' and, from May 2006 until July 2007, presented '' STORYFix'' on BBC News, a light-hearted look at the week's news set to upbeat music. In July 2007, she was appointed as a contributing editor to ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...
'' magazine, an unpaid post. This had been approved by her immediate manager, the head of BBC Television News
Peter Horrocks Peter John Gibson Horrocks CBE (born 8 October 1959) is a broadcast executive and a former Vice-Chancellor (chief executive) of The Open University. He was educated at the independent King's College School in Wimbledon and at Christ's College, ...
, but the decision was subsequently overturned by his superior, the BBC News director
Helen Boaden Helen Boaden (born 1 March 1956) is a British former broadcasting executive who spent more than 30 years working for the BBC, including as Director of Radio between February 2013 and September 2016.Tom Harpe"BBC news head Helen Boaden moved to ...
. In 2012, Maitlis presented the ''US 2012'' election coverage on BBC One and the BBC News Channel alongside
David Dimbleby David Dimbleby (born 28 October 1938) is an English journalist and former presenter of current affairs and political programmes, best known for having presented the BBC topical debate programme '' Question Time''. He is the son of broadcaster ...
, when incumbent US President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
and
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...
were fighting for the presidency of the US. In 2016, she presented a news discussion programme called ''This Week's World'' on
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
, late afternoon on Saturdays. Maitlis was a leading presenter of ''
Newsnight ''Newsnight'' is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 10:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also avail ...
'' on BBC Two, alongside
Kirsty Wark Kirsteen Anne "Kirsty" Wark (born 3 February 1955) is a Scottish television presenter and journalist with a long career at the BBC. Starting on BBC Radio Scotland, where she became a producer, Wark switched to television, presenting ''The Late ...
and
Emma Barnett Emma Barnett (born 5 February 1985) is a British broadcaster and journalist who presented ''Woman's Hour'' on BBC Radio 4 from 2021 until 2024. Barnett worked for BBC Radio 5 Live for six years, beginning in 2014, after three years working for ...
. She joined the programme as a relief presenter in 2006, working her way up to be the lead anchor of the programme following the departure of Evan Davis in 2018. After each show, before bed, she answered emails from viewers. In April 2019, she published ''Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News'', a book describing how television news is produced. As of 2019, she was the only ''Newsnight'' presenter not to have attended a private school. Also that year, Maitlis was amongst the highest-paid BBC news and current affairs staff, receiving a salary between £260,000-£264,999. In November 2019, Maitlis interviewed
Prince Andrew, Duke of York Prince Andrew, Duke of York (Andrew Albert Christian Edward; born 19 February 1960) is a member of the British royal family. He is the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a younger bro ...
, about his relationship with American sex offender and paedophile
Jeffrey Epstein Jeffrey Edward Epstein ( , ; January 20, 1953August 10, 2019) was an American financier and child sex offender. Born and raised in New York City, Epstein began his professional career as a teacher at the Dalton School, despite lacking a col ...
, who died in August while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The interview was broadcast on the BBC's ''Newsnight'' programme on 16 November 2019. Due in part to the fallout from Prince Andrew's disastrous performance during this interview, he resigned from his royal duties. In February 2020, her interview with Prince Andrew won ''Interview of the Year'' and ''Scoop of the Year'' awards at the 2020 RTS Television Journalism Awards. Maitlis was an executive producer on '' A Very Royal Scandal'' (2024), a film about the interview. Also released that year was ''Scoop'', adapted from a book of the same name by Sam McAlister, a former BBC producer. From 2020, Maitlis presented the BBC podcast, ''Americast'', with Jon Sopel, the BBC's North America editor. The podcasts originally focused on the 2020 election and contained analysis and various interviews from across the political scene. ''Americast'' received positive reviews and performed well, becoming one of the UK's most listened-to podcasts of any genre.


Post BBC career

On 22 February 2022, Maitlis announced her resignation from the BBC after signing with Global, the parent of
LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadc ...
. She launched a daily podcast and joint radio show again with ex-BBC journalist Jon Sopel. In an address at the 2022 Edinburgh TV Festival, Maitlis cautioned journalists about self-censorship in the name of being reluctant to take on populist critics. '' The News Agents'', a daily podcast from Global Media presented by Maitlis, Jon Sopel, and Lewis Goodall, was launched on 30 August 2022. The opening edition, titled ''Trump – Prison or President?'', focused on the FBI investigation into Donald Trump's handling of presidential documents, with Anthony Scaramucci, the former White House Director of Communications, appearing as a guest. In May 2023, Maitlis was featured in a two-part
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
documentary called ''Andrew: The Problem Prince'', which explores the events leading up to
Prince Andrew Prince Andrew, Duke of York (Andrew Albert Christian Edward; born 19 February 1960) is a member of the British royal family. He is the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a younger broth ...
's infamous ''
Newsnight ''Newsnight'' is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 10:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also avail ...
'' interview of 2019. In November 2023, Maitlis was named as an executive producer on '' A Very Royal Scandal'' with Maitlis being played by
Ruth Wilson Ruth Wilson (born 13 January 1982) is an English actress. She has played the eponymous protagonist in ''Jane Eyre'' (2006), Alice Morgan in the BBC psychological crime drama '' Luther'' (2010–2013, 2019), Alison Lockhart in the Showtime dram ...
and
Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage roles in ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1992), ''Don't Fool wi ...
as Prince Andrew. Maitlis hosted overnight coverage of both the
2024 United Kingdom general election The 2024 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 4 July 2024 to elect all 650 members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The opposition Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, won a lan ...
and the
2024 United States elections Elections in the United States, Elections were held in the United States on November 5, 2024. In 2024 United States presidential election, the presidential election, former Republican President Donald Trump, seeking a non-consecutive second term ...
for
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
alongside
Krishnan Guru-Murthy Krishnan Guru-Murthy (born 5 April 1970) is a British journalist. He is the lead presenter of ''Channel 4 News''. He also presents ''Unreported World'', a foreign-affairs documentary series. Early life Guru-Murthy's father, an Indian consulta ...
.


Allegations of partiality

In a ''Newsnight'' discussion concerning
Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
on 15 July 2019, a viewer alleged that Maitlis had been "sneering and bullying" towards columnist
Rod Liddle Rod Liddle (born 1 April 1960) is an English journalist, and an associate editor of ''The Spectator''. He was an editor of BBC Radio 4's '' Today'' programme. His published works include ''Too Beautiful for You'' (2003), ''Love Will Destroy Ev ...
. Maitlis had accused Liddle of writing columns containing "consistent casual racism week after week" and asked Liddle if he would describe himself as a racist. The BBC Executive Complaints Unit upheld the complaint against her, agreeing that she had been "persistent and personal" in her criticism of Liddle, thus "leaving her open to the charge that she had failed to be even-handed" in the discussion between Brexit-supporting Liddle and his anti-Brexit opponent Tom Baldwin. The Complaints Unit did not find that Maitlis had failed to be even-handed. Conservative commentator Douglas Murray described the segment as "more of a drive-by shooting than an interview". On 27 May 2020, the BBC said that Maitlis's introduction to ''Newsnight'' the night before, which discussed the allegations that the Prime Minister's chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, had contravened lockdown restrictions, "did not meet our standards of due impartiality". The BBC said in a statement: "The BBC must uphold the highest standards of due impartiality in its news output. Ms Maitlis started the show by declaring that Mr Cummings had 'broken the rules'." She did not present ''Newsnight'' on that day, asking to take the night off. On 3 September 2020, a report by the BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit also ruled against Maitlis in the matter, stating Maitlis's comments "went beyond an attempt to set out the programme agenda" and that the "definitive and at times critical nature of the language" had "placed the presenter closer to one side of the debate" and thus "did not meet the required standards on accuracy or impartiality". In February 2021, Maitlis was criticised for lacking impartiality after sharing a tweet by
Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...
, which condemned the government. Conservative Party politician
Andrew Bridgen Andrew James Bridgen (born 28 October 1964) is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Leicestershire (UK Parliament constituency), North West Leicestershire from ...
said the BBC journalist ignored impartiality guidelines. In her August 2022 MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Maitlis reflected on the incident, saying that BBC editors were initially complimentary. In the lecture, Maitlis also questioned the promptness with which the BBC apologised. The following day, after the Prime Minister's office complained, the BBC apologised and removed the segment from its streaming service.


Personal life

In 2000, Maitlis married investment manager Mark Gwynne, who is Catholic and from
Waters Upton Waters Upton is a small village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Telford and Wrekin district, in the county of Shropshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 951. It was recorded in the Domesda ...
,
Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
. They met while working in
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
. She proposed to her husband while on holiday in
Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
. They live in
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
, London, and have two sons. Maitlis is a keen runner and a WellChild Celebrity Ambassador. She speaks fluent French, Spanish and Italian. Maitlis presented the 2012
World Jewish Relief The Central British Fund for World Jewish Relief, formerly Central British Fund for German Jewry, (CBF) which currently operates under the name World Jewish Relief (WJR), is a British charitable organisation and the main Jewish overseas aid orga ...
's annual dinner at
Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a guild hall or guild house, is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Europe, with many surviving today in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commo ...
, London. While her parents were Jewish, she has said that she is "not very practising".


Criminal stalker

In 2002, it was reported that Maitlis had been stalked for more than a decade by Edward Vines, a former friend from her time at the university who would frequently appear at her place of work. He admitted to harassing Maitlis and was sentenced to four months' imprisonment but was released because of the time he had spent in detention on remand. A restraining order was imposed. In September 2016, Vines was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for breach of the restraining order in respect of Maitlis. In January 2018, Vines was jailed for 3 years and 9 months for breaching a restraining order forbidding him from contacting Maitlis. He admitted two charges of breaching the restraining order by sending two letters to Maitlis, as well as emails and letters to her mother in 2015. In September 2019, while a prisoner at HM Prison Ranby in Nottinghamshire, he pleaded not guilty to breaching an order restraining him from contacting Maitlis by writing a letter with the intention of having it sent to her. That led to his being sentenced, in February 2020, to a further three years' imprisonment. In July 2022, Vines was convicted of attempting to break a restraining order by writing letters to Maitlis and her mother while in prison, for which he subsequently received an 8-year prison sentence. In a
BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...
interview, Maitlis likened the long-term harassment to having a
chronic illness A chronic condition (also known as chronic disease or chronic illness) is a health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time. The term ''chronic'' is often applied when the ...
.


Awards

In 2012, Maitlis received an honorary doctorate from
Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield station, Sheffield railway station, whil ...
. She won Broadcast Journalist of the Year at the 2017
London Press Club The London Press Club was established in 1882 as a London gentlemen's club. For much of its history, it occupied premises in Wine Office Court, near Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east fro ...
Awards and the Network Presenter of the Year award at the RTS Television Journalism Awards in 2019 and 2020. She received the German
Hanns Joachim Friedrichs Award The Hanns Joachim Friedrichs Award is a German award for excellence in journalism. It was first awarded in 1995. The award is named for the German journalist Hanns Joachim Friedrichs Hanns Joachim "Hajo" Friedrichs (15 March 1927 – 28 March ...
in 2020.


Publications

*


References


External links

*
Emily Maitlis
at Debrett's ''People of Today''
Graff, Vincent. "Flirtation, seduction and betrayal": Profile in ''The Guardian'', 6 March 2006
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maitlis, Emily 1970 births Living people Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge BBC newsreaders and journalists British broadcast news analysts British people of German-Jewish descent British podcasters British reporters and correspondents British women podcasters British women television journalists Canadian emigrants to England Canadian people of German-Jewish descent Global Media & Entertainment people Journalists from Ontario Journalists from Yorkshire Mass media people from Hamilton, Ontario Mass media people from Sheffield People educated at King Edward VII School, Sheffield